Rating: 
Summary: The First
Review: This DVD is the first DVD that starts a great series. I got this to see how good Evangelion really was, and after I saw this DVD I had to see the rest of the series. The story starts off very well, it tells you the basic plot and starts off little extra things. I think any Mecha animefan would enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: The Strengths of an Iconoclastic, Defining Series
Review: To paraphrase a review in "Animerica" magazine, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" may in fact be the most important modern anime created. "Important," however, does not necessarily imply "best" or "worst" or indication of technical or artistic quality. On the whole, my opinion is that the assets far outweigh the liabilities of this series, but the liabilities are noticable and have been hotly debated ever since the show's ending. The TV show and concluding movie has inspired passion among anime fans and even outsiders (in Japan at least) that is rare for any TV show or movie, let alone an anime. It's easy to see why--while this DVD may start with many of the cliches and conventions of the mecha anime, what is immediately noticeable is the following two things: 1.) The characters are the focus, not the action or plot. And these characters inspire all sorts of emotional reactions in the viewer rare in anime. In particular, Shinji is an atypical hero for this sort of show, and his attitude toward life and those around him has been the cause of no small debate over whether he is a worthless coward deserving of contempt (as he often states that he is!) or a traumatized child who deserves compassion and empathy. Immediately, even in these episodes and especially the fourth, the introverted, psychological nature of this show is established, and Shinji's is not alone in his trauma and inner torment--Misato, Asuka, Gendo, and Ritsuko all have their own issues to deal with that are explored throughly later. In my opinion, when character-oriented and psychological aspect of the narrative was emphasized more in the second half of the series, that's when "Eva" truly shined as a compelling drama and revealing portrait of the modern Japanese psyche. 2.) The direction is idiosyncratic and often experimental. Director Anno Hideaki is perhaps anime's most well known creative iconoclast, and he breaks numerous anime directing conventions and establishes his own animated film vocabulary in the shot composition camera angles (especially still shots of inert objects or certain ways of framing faces), fluid and often brutal action sequences, and later in the series, psychological montages remniscent of Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" and French New-Wave films. The stark, serious nature of the series is established immediately in this DVD as well, though the idiosyncrasies of the direction are relaxed in the semi-comedic middle parts, and become much more pronounced in the latter half and especially in the endings. And with all this--for the most part, it's not that intrusive and the storytelling is clear and compelling. I love it. Honest, searing characterization and boundary-shattering style are the great strengths of "Evangelion," and combined with the fact that I can identify a bit with Shinji and not feel the same contempt for him that other viewers often have, I think "Eva" is TV-anime's most important recent work. "Escaflowne" may have the better storytelling, "Serial Experiments Lain" may have more intellectual conundrums, and "Cowboy Bebop" may have the cooler music and balanced, if a bit detached, characters. But art, emotion, intelligence, and drama come together in "Evangelion" in a way that has set the standard for all the anime that has come afterwards--no matter how enthralled or enraged this series has made anime fans ever since.
Rating:
Summary: Great Anime, but ADV should give its consumers a better deal
Review: I know there are 26 episode, but why give us 4 episode on the first two disc and then give up only 3 episode for the rest. It just hints at a greedy company. Those annoying previews in the beginning that you have to manually skip doesn't do much to improve their image either. They could have easily just made it 6 disc long with the last 2 disc containing 5 episodes. That would have given ADV a little more respect from me, but now I feel reluctant to buy anything from ADV. Well, at least Manga will be releasing the Evangelion movies. By the way, this anime is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh.
Review: My rating isn't a relative star rating taking into account this anime's place amongst other animes as so many other viewers have done, but just my rating for this work as a piece of entertainment- and as far as entertainment goes, this is rot. Let me get this straight: the Eva's need to be plugged in!?!? And the Angels are too stupid to figure this out? Oh god... I'll not even go into all the other niggling plot details that screw up the "story." The series is jsut littered with ideas that seem to be thrown in more for mood than for an actual reason to further the character development. Uh- the animation for this series has been called "good?" No, no, no, no, no- the *animation* is NOT good, if what you mean by animation is the series of still images displayed in sequence that appear to create a single moving image, right? Well, this *animation* used maybe 6 frames per second at most. There are some interesting transition effects and some of the still images are drawn pretty well, but there is just oo much still and panning shots with loads of talking. *But* that would be GREAT if the talking involved an interesting plot... Oh, the plot- a 14 year old boy stoicly becoming a Japanese adult with the guidance of women and a distant father. Sounds like a simple social disconnect in a society where the sexes don't communicate very well. After 6 episodes, I didn't want to deal with it anymore: "Be a BOY Ishi!" Yuck. I loved Macross, but I was 16 when I encountered it, and I think this series would suit me well if *I* were 16 or so, but as an adult, this stuff was just too puerile for me. I guess I've moved on. Wish this hadn't been my first foray back into anime, now I'm hesitant to try Iria and Ninja Scroll... hm.
Rating:
Summary: TOOTHPICKS!!
Review: Ok, this is it. The DVD release of one of the greatest anime series of all time. This is not your standard mecha anime, not by a long shot. The animation is very well done, and the english voice acting is surprisingly well done. The series starts with a kick, featuring Tokyo under attack by a mysterious being called an "angel". Sound like standard anime fare? It's not. Shinji is the unlikely hero, unsure of himself and the people around him. His father, Gendo, is an absolute jerk. Misato my be kind of crazy at times, but her philisophical insites are interesting. This is an anime with CHARACTER, some which there is a lack of these days. This is usually a pretty serious series most of the time, but it has it's humorous parts (Don't miss this toothpicks scene. You'll be rolling on the floor!) All in all, it's a great start to a great series.
Rating: 
Summary: A great start to a great anime series...
Review: What can I say about Evangelion that has not been said already by it's huge fanbase? I've been a fan of Japanese anime for 5 years, and seen a variety of titles on TV, on VHS/DVD, and in theatres. Yet I 'purposely' avoided this title, fearing it would be too complex for me, but I gave in and bought the first DVD, and I am very impressed. The nice thing about the disc is that it includes both English and Japanese audio (along with French and Spanish). which shall suit all fans of anime, and make the dub / subbed debate die down. The soundtrack (music) is VERY well done, perhaps the best I've heard in any anime I've seen.....it really sets the different moods throughout each episode. As for the plot, in one word...mind-bending. The series' first 4 episodes will immediately have you asking questions and craving for more. Based on those aspects, I definitly would have given this an enthusiastic "5 star" rating, but I docked off a point, because ADV 'could' have used a better transfer process with DVD technology as it stands today. I could tell right off the bat that they used VHS masters, and instead of remastering them for DVD, they transferred straight from the source tapes. Because of this, the images at some spots get just slightly fuzzy. On top of that, some of the subtitling/captions is very difficult to read over lighter colors. Despite these minor flaws (which I heard got fixed from the second DVD onward), the animation is still beautiful, and very eye-catching. To those anime fans who have put off seeing Evangelion, like I was before I got this DVD......wait no longer! Get this, and you'll be hooked instantly, and wanting to see more.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant... theres no other way to put it
Review: When i think of evangelion, not just 0:1 i feel a certain level of sadness, not of the series which is just brillant, but sadness over the fact that i am never going to find anything of this calibre ever again. With a magnificent storyline and characters that grow and mature over the course of the series it's hard not to get emotionally attached to them: Whether it be the reluctant warrior Shinji, or the quiet and mysterious Rei or even the loud and often at times obnoxious Asuka. Even being only 17 episodes through as i am, I must admit to an absolute infatuation with each and every character, sure don't get me wrong the giant robot fights truly rock, but the creators have taken it beyond that into a magical universe that will stay close to my heart forever more. See it, if you ever invest time and money into any form of entertainment make sure it is this, you will not regret it, even if you've never watched japanese animation before start with this and you too will fall in love.
Rating: 
Summary: Good until episode 23 then "psyco"-babble
Review: The story about the fight for the world against the "alien" angels is an excellent si-fi story until near the end. The first twenty three episodes are a good mix of characters and action. Then the story ends and a three episode run of "who am i really?" no animation, no character interaction, just black and white captions with bad writing. The story itself has no conclusion and several sub-plots are left hanging. I expected to see the main character wake up in a hospital with "was this all a dream?".
Rating:
Summary: Inconsistency is this series downfall...
Review: I know that I am going to step on some toes with this review(which in turn will probably get me burned at the stake), but I really feel that I must voice my opinion. After being pummeled with hype for this series, I had always decided not to watch it. When the DVDs started to come out, I figured that then would be the time to try the series(ADV scared me with the sheer magnitude of the series by making it 13 tapes long, which is just too much for a person on a very limited budget). The only problem is that hype still plagued me as I watched the series, which in turn caused me to become hypercritical. I don't like to be that way but its what happened. The one thing bothers me about this series more than most anything else is that its not quite as visually/musically/story-line effective as some of the more recent anime that I have been watching(Serial Experiments Lain and Cowboy Bebop). Sure there are some great scenes that evoke great emotion for the characters, but some scenes just seem tacked on and feel unnecessary. The music does literally nothing to complement the scene in some of the more emotionally based parts and the story itself has various weak spots in it. And because of these weak spots, we are meant to think that this an intellectual series. I really can't remember a time in the series where I had to scratch my head and think anything through to figure anything out. And on top of this, because of the predictable nature of the characters, the major plot twists have been less than exciting(I still think it was pretty obvious that Shinji was going to end up killing someone, it was just a matter of time). Needless to say, this collectively is the major reason I can't get into it. Other little spots that bother me: sub-average character designs(none really inspire me that much), repetition of same musical track over and over again, the sometimes flagrant use of stock footage(though never as bad DBZ, it does rear its ugly head every once and awhile) that distracts me and takes me out of the series, and the overall nature of some of the characters(Asuka drives me up a wall! Anyone have a sock?). So even with all these complaints(they sure take up a lot of the review don't they?), why did I give the series a 3 star review? For one thing, despite the fact that I am not big on the series, its still has some quality moments. The other main reason is that I still have yet to finish the series(almost there) and I feel that I should give it the benefit of the doubt. But I can't help but feel that there are other series that a superior in more than one aspect to EVA. In all honesty, I wanted to avoid saying this, but it looks like its going to come out; "its not that good." Sorry EVA fans, but this is how I feel. Thank you for your time. If you feel the need, don't be afraid to email me. Just don't send me flame mail.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent series that could've made better DVDs
Review: I first came across this excellent series on a rare kind of local PBS station here called KTEH, which played anime, rights to broadcast paid for by donations. I was never able to see the entire series, but I knew that I wanted to own it. I passed up the opportunity to purchase the DVDs since only 12 episodes on 4 DVDs were available. With the last with the final episodes right around the corner, I purchased all of them from Amazon. The 3rd with episodes 9-11 and the 7th with 21-23 arrived in the mail a few days ago. While I love this series for its beautiful animation, rich and complex storyline, and excellent voice actors, this DVD series puts it to shame. Others have commented on the quality of the picture, but I don't really notice that so much. ADV Films has other things to be ashamed about. I'll start with what happens when I popped 0:3 into the player. 8 minutes worth of commercials for their other products, as well as their stupid little ADV Films short that basically says, "This is a DVD and you are watching a ADV Films DVD and we put anime on DVD." In 0:7, the previews don't play but just the ADV Films thing plays, and you have the option to watch the previews from the menu. I think I speak for everyone else when I say that DVDs don't need previews, and only priced-to-rent VHS titles should have them. Another thing is the languages; English, Spanish, French, and thankfully, Japanese. ADV Films didn't do the horrible English dubbing, so I won't blame them for that. Also, I think all Region 1 encoded DVDs could do without the Spanish and French dubbings, which ADV Films had made just for these DVDs. Why? I could do with just the original, and very talented, Japanese voice actors. With all the space the extra dubbings take up, they could've put more extra features into the DVD. Very little special features, just a short character bio consisting of five or so characters in the series. And onto the worst part of the DVD. The subtitles. The subtitle version that I saw on KTEH had the lyrics to the opening theme, the dialogue, and superimposed over certain Japanese text. In the DVD, you can only turn off the subtitles for the dialogue, but everything else is STUCK in there, whether you want to see it or not. I can't read Japanese, and maybe current DVD technology limits the ability to put subtitles anywhere on the screen (for subtitles superimposed over Japanese text), but at the very least, they could've had the themesong with removable subtitles. The text in the credits has been completely replaced with a quick scrolling ADV Films version. And to top it all off, listen carefully, this is the clincher. CENSORSHIP. Yes, that's right. There's a scene in episode 11 where Kaji is running for the elevator, and Misato is in it, and she pushes the close door button; Kaji runs and he catches the door just before they close, and I specifically remember Misato saying in subtitles "S***." But in the DVD, no subtitles are shown for the word, so you would think Misato was just grunting or something. Also, in episode 9, Misato says "What is this s***?!" and s*** is replaced with crap instead. While stuff like this might seem small, and doesn't really detract from the storyline, it's still removing context and altering art for the sake of misguided morals. This series is not for children, and probably not your granny either. All in all, the series gets three out of three stars, and ADV Films gets zero stars.
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